All academic departments at Miami to integrate artificial intelligence into the curriculum by 2027-2028
First 13 departments will introduce AI in the Majors to students this fall
All academic departments at Miami to integrate artificial intelligence into the curriculum by 2027-2028
First 13 departments will introduce AI in the Majors to students this fall
The goal of Miami University’s AI in the Majors, a discipline-specific, faculty-led curriculum initiative, is for every undergraduate student to graduate with artificial intelligence (AI) competencies aligned with their professional fields.
The first 13 departments, impacting an estimated 4,925 students, will start this fall for the 2026-2027 academic year. Those volunteer departments are: Accountancy; Anthropology; Art; Chemistry and Biochemistry; Educational Psychology; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Languages, Literatures, and Writing; Mathematics; Physics; Sport Leadership and Management; Speech Pathology and Audiology; Statistics; and Teaching, Curriculum, and Educational Inquiry.
A second cohort of 15 departments (10,949 students) will implement the program in spring and fall 2027, while the final cohort of 21 departments (18,982 students) will do it in the 2027-2028 academic year.
The program grew out of a committee with the MiamiTHRIVE strategic plan, which calls for building AI literacy for faculty and students.
Ellen Yezierski, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and professor of Chemistry, is lead facilitator of AI in the Majors. She believes it is important for Miami to do this now because artificial intelligence is here.
“If it's this embedded in the world, then it needs to be embedded in the learning and in the coursework,” she said. “I trust our faculty to make great decisions on where it fits.”
Yezierski has worked closely with AI provost fellows Heidi McKee, professor of English and faculty affiliate in the department of Emerging Technology in Business and Design (ETBD), and Dennis Cheatham, associate professor of Art and ETBD faculty affiliate.
Cheatham and McKee will co-present their work in AI at the 45th Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching this November. They led sessions in Miami’s annual AI Symposium in recent years, and Yezierski led a session on helping faculty improve their teaching using ChatGPT or other generative AI tools.
They believe evolving classroom integration is needed because artificial intelligence is a transformative technology impacting every field.
“Students need critical knowledge,” McKee said.
Each of the 13 departments has chosen one major to integrate AI into the curriculum this fall. That would allow those faculty to help faculty of other majors in the department as they update their learning outcomes to incorporate competencies around AI.
‘It was a natural fit for us to volunteer’
Donna Scarborough, professor and chair of the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, said, “Our department volunteered to participate in the first cohort because we were already studying AI and how it relates to our major, including both our undergraduate and graduate curriculum.”
They had a working group for more than a year that was exploring best practices in AI for teaching, research, and in clinical education.
“It was a natural fit for us to volunteer,” she said.
Scarborough believes that just like her department, many other programs had been formally and informally discussing AI and pedagogy — specific to their major.
“I think the way the program was designed allowed for different majors to concentrate on how AI impacted their respective programs without forcing a one size fits all mandate,” she said.
This is how it will work:
“AI/technology competencies will be rolled out in different courses and build throughout the curriculum, both for our academic and research courses as well as our clinical courses,” Scarborough said. “Our goal will be to develop awareness, agency, application and accountability specifically related to ethical issues and use.”
She added, “For example, our introductory course will develop foundational level awareness of digital technology, AI, and future use specifically within communication disorders. In contrast, our senior level clinic course will emphasize the application and accountability of AI use for documentation of patient treatment sessions.”
Student views
AI in the Majors is the latest of several steps Miami has taken in recent years to integrate artificial intelligence across the university.
There is a new bachelor’s degree in Artificial Intelligence as well as a self-paced, five-module AI Fundamentals microlearning course that is free for all students, faculty, and staff to build basic and advanced tech literacy.
Nate Novak, a junior with a Political Science major and Business Leadership co-major, attended AI Congress last May as part of his role as an intern with Miami’s Office of ASPIRE. He traveled to Washington with President Crawford; David Seidl, vice president for information technology and chief information officer; and Lauren Poythress, director of federal relations.
Reached for comment about AI in the Majors, Novak said, “Integrating AI literacy into our education at Miami is extremely important now more than ever. AI is continuing to develop at a rapid pace and becoming a fundamental part of nearly every industry. Learning how to use it properly will give Miami students an advantage when it comes time to enter the workforce.”
Novak added, “AI can be used as a tool to enhance our studies, not something that just spits out answers. Knowing how to use the AI effectively will be an invaluable skill throughout our careers. Having guidance from Miami faculty is essential because they can teach us how to use these tools efficiently and in ways that help us better learn.”
Miami senior Noah Kruthaupt, a Marketing major with an Entrepreneurship co-major, also took valuable lessons from AI Congress.
“People need more real experience, risk, and accountability related to their education,” Kruthaupt said, adding that the more people can learn to ask the right questions, think broadly, and across disciplines, the better.
“The more problems people are exposed to the better, which means real world experience and real problems,” he said. “And all of that helps solve the biggest issue with using/integrating AI: being able to build and use judgment at a high level.”
Much of AI Congress was spent discussing AI in the context of what’s next, challenges ahead, and opportunities at the state and national levels. Seidl noted that Ohio had a strong showing, and he pointed to the university’s strengths when it comes to AI, including weaving the technology into the school’s curriculum through AI in the Majors and Miami’s efforts to keep AI sustainable.